ACTION
The imminent question is how, as a White, privileged, vehemently anti-racist, 34 year old Mother and business owner, in my everyday life am I going to take actual action to contribute to Black lives, to end the marginalization of the IBPOC community, and be an active anti-racist in my everyday ordinary life? Because that is how this is going to actually change; if we ALL see that we have ways to contribute towards anti-racism in our everyday lives.
We can all repost, share, talk, listen and donate (all important!) but how do we make this, finally, a real change. How is the engrained racism in our culture going to actually end.
The anti-racist conversation and actions that we are all taking right now need to turn into a stream of action that is a part of our everyday lives. And when these actions become just another normal part of our life, that’s when things will actually start to change.
This is not a trendy week of talking about being anti-racist.
This is the time to look at our anti-racist lives and see how we can actually implement action in our everyday lives without social media reminders. Because we will all continue with the selfies and brunch photos, and talking about other things on our platforms, therefore how do we look at our lives now and make sure that, when the reminders fade, we are still a part of the work. If you are not an IBPOC / minority American, you are not constantly met with reminders of the rampant racism in everyday life. So how do we be sure that we are continually reminded to take our privilege and break it down to be an equal world?
1.) WE WILL VOTE:
First action for everyone is to VOTE. Use your vote. Not in a battle ground state? There are six key battleground states that will be most important to delivering a progressive majority in 2020. Adopt one at Vote Save America here. Pick a state to adopt and they will provide you with actions to take to help make a big difference this November.
2.) WE WILL SUPPORT:
Another action item for our business is continuing to buy and promote Black, minority and POC makers and artist, representing them in my shop and sharing their work with you. I am committing to actively looking for Black artists and makers to offer here in our store. Yes POC and Black friends have been a part of my shop since day one, (currently at 11% Minority owned brands that we carry), but it was because I was interested in promoting and supporting my friends or because I saw a beautiful product and after that discovered the makers ethnicity. But we are all subject to and products of our bubble. I must actively step outside of my bubble to help promote actual change, and an end to the way that racism is built into our society. We have joined the 15% challenge. Even though I am not a “major retailer”, I still have a major responsibility to push through the bubble I know, and discover what else is out there.
3.) WE WILL PROMOTE:
We, as a business, also need to use our imagery to promote more IBPOC women and their beauty. I will step out of just shooting my available friends because it is easier. I will put money aside to pay for models that showcase Black, minority and POC beauty.
4.) WE WILL DONATE:
We will continue to donate to organizations that stand for human rights and equality. We have donated to charities since day one, but we will broaden our reach of who we are donating to.
5.) WE WILL NOT FORGET:
I will prioritize that this conversation becomes an everyday action. I will lift up. I will continue to listen, to learn and to discuss the implicit bias that is woven into our lives. Living and working in a progressive city and state leaves room for comfort, and forgetting the racism that is so deeply a part of our countries make-up. I will keep working on this.
And above all of this, I need to say that I recognize that what I am doing at my small company is not enough to end the 200+ years of hatred and discrimination, and that what we need is to radically upend the system by which our country is so comfortably built on, benefiting White citizens disproportionately and often exclusively. I am open to hearing what more you want to see from my small company. I want to be an agent of change. I demand real change. I demand that our Black community is represented and made equal in the world.
Comment below with more actions I should take and I would love to hear about more Black, minority and POC makers and designers that I should consider for the shop.
Demanding and implementing change.
Thank you for reading this.
- Laura Siladke
Founder and designer at Leelanau Goods